Max Verstappen's impressive Formula 1 career is still on track despite an underwhelming showing in Monaco, his new boss Christian Horner has insisted.
Just a fortnight after stunning the F1 world and drawing comparisons with Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher by winning in Barcelona, the 18-year-old Dutchman crashed not only in qualifying but also during the race in Monaco last weekend.
However, Red Bull team boss Horner said that Verstappen was having a good race through the field until he made a mistake and hit the wall.
"He wasn't the only one to be caught out, but it's been a very contrasting weekend for him compared to two weeks ago," Horner admitted.
"It's all part of the learning curve that he's on and I think that the trajectory that you can see is still extremely impressive. I only think that he's going to learn and we won't see him make the same mistakes next year."
Horner said that Verstappen had apologised to the team and will use the experience of Monaco - where he also crashed in his Toro Rosso a year ago - to keep learning.
"He's a bright, intelligent character and I think he'll take on board what has happened this weekend and he'll definitely move forward and learn from it," said Horner.
The season continues with the Canadian Grand Prix on June 12.
